Abuse of adults with learning difficulties: user consultation in developing adult protection procedures and guidelines
| Date | 01 December 2003 |
| Pages | 4-17 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/14668203200300029 |
| Published date | 01 December 2003 |
| Author | Guy Wishart |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Sociology |
4© Pavilion Publishing (Brighton) Limited The Journal of Adult Protection Volume 5 Issue 4 • December 2003
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Introduction
The history and development of adult protection procedures
and guidelines, although relatively short, is full of debate,
argument and different opinions expressed by a variety of
organisations and individuals. Key issues include
confidentiality (Cambridge, 2001); mandatory reporting
(Brown & Stein, 2000); the need for adult protection
committees (Association for Residential Care/National
Association for the Protection from Sexual Abuse of Adults
and Children with Learning Disabilities (ARC/NAPSAC),
1993); whether a welfare model or a criminal justice model
should be adopted (Pritchard, 2001); the need for generic
versus service-user-specific procedures (Inman, 1998); and the
definitions of abuse (Brown et al, 1995). People and
organisations contributing to these debates have had varying
degrees of success in shaping the development of adult
protection procedures and guidelines on a national and/or
localised scale. While some groups will have been included
and become influential, others will have been excluded and
marginalised. One group of people to consider in all of this are
service users with learning difficulties.
This article reports the findings of a national survey of all
social services departments (SSDs) in the United Kingdom
(UK), including England, Wales, Scotland and Northern
Ireland. The primary purpose of the survey was to assess the
extent of, and/or lack of, consultation of service users with
Abuse of adults with
learning difficulties: user
consultation in developing
adult protection procedures
and guidelines Guy Wishart
Research Fellow, University of Birmingham
Research paper
key words
adult protection procedures
people with learning difficulties
sexual abuse
user involvement
abstract
This article reports the findings
of a national survey of the
consultation of people with learning
difficulties by social services
departments in the development of
adult protection procedures and
guidelines.The survey also
considered the consultation of other
service users, carers and family, and
staff. Despite the rhetoric of user
involvement in adult protection
literature, low levels of consultation
for people with learning difficulties
were found.
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